Deah Barakat, one of three Muslim students who was murdered on Tuesday night, worked with an organization that provides dental care to Syrian refugees. Since his death, the organization has raised more than $235,000.
Flooded by an outpouring of support in the days following his murder, Chapel Hill victim Deah Barakat's charitable fundraising effort — Project Refugee Smiles — has smashed its goal of $20,000 and raised over $235,000.
Project Refugee Smiles aims to supply Syrian refugees with toothbrushes and toothpaste, educates children about dental hygiene, and supports local clinics in Turkey.
Barakat, the 23-year-old who was shot and killed on Tuesday night along with Yusor Mohammad, his wife, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, her sister, was a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Dentistry. He was heavily involved with Project Refugee Smiles.
He made the following video explaining the initiative, and had planned to travel to Rihaniya, Turkey, this summer to work with refugee children and local dentists.
